Ireland's Andy Lee is expected to be named as part of a Four Nations team to fight the Cubans on their first ever visit, in Liverpool on Friday and Dublin one week later.
The Limerick Olympian's finest moment to date came on the Caribbean island three years ago when he claimed a World Junior Championship silver medal.
Lee said: "I boxed in Santiago which is the home of Cuban boxing and it was a great experience.
"In Cuba it is all about boxing and everybody seems to grow up with so much better technique and co-ordination.
"You can go down the street and there will be an old guy selling boxes of cigars. The instant you tell him you're a boxer he's up on his feet, shadow-boxing better than anybody in our team!"
Lee, from the city's St Francis club, was inevitably inundated by professional offers in the wake of his success and admitted he seriously considered them.
The great trainer Emanuel Steward was one of Lee's biggest admirers and invited him over to train at his famous Kronk gym in Detroit.
However Lee has vowed to put his professional dreams on hold to pursue a gold medal in November's World Senior Championships in China.
And he believes the two matches against the Cubans - who boasted no fewer than five of the Athens Games' gold medallists - provide a great chance to show him how much work still needs to be done.
"This is going to be a great experience to show where we're at because who ever we fight they will be amongst the best in the world," said Lee.
"We struggle because we lose our boxers to the professional ranks whereas the Cubans have these experienced guys who have been around for years in the amateurs.
"I am looking forward to these fights as real stepping-stones to the World Championships and the Olympics in Beijing.
"If I can keep fighting like I am doing at the moment I will go to China hoping to get a medal, and believing that is something I can achieve."
